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Diversified alternative investment managers (IMs) are unlikely to see soaring private equity deal activity in 2017 even with record available dry powder, as they take a more cautious approach to new transactions amid elevated market valuations.
This is according to a US Diversified Alternative Investment Managers: 2016 Update report from Fitch Ratings.
Industrywide uncalled capital, or dry powder, is at near-record levels, with Fitch-rated diversified alternative IMs holding USD273.5 billion in aggregate dry powder across private equity, credit and real estate strategies as of 30 September 2016, which was up 7.5 per cent year over year.
According to
Renewable energy-focused infrastructure funds have been an increasingly important part of the unlisted infrastructure market and the sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, according to data released by Preqin.
Renewable energy funds secured a record USD14 billion of investor capital in 2015, and the amount raised in 2016 YTD (USD9.8 billion) seems on course to approach these levels.
However, the number of funds closed annually has fallen from a peak of 30 funds in 2014 to just 14 in 2016 so far. This is a reflection of the competitive fundraising market, and it is notable that fewer fund
Tideway Investment Partners LLP (Tideway) has become the latest high-profile investment manager to add its funds to ISEFundHub (https://isefundhub.com). Since its launch by the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) in November 2014, approximately 50 investment fund managers have joined ISEFundHub to display information on their funds, ranging from net asset value (NAV) to performance analytics and peer comparisons.
“Managers can host key fund documents such as factsheets, KIIDS, annual reports, and display their fund NAV history for each share class. ISEFundHub can be used by funds that are listed on ISE, as well as non-listed Irish-domiciled funds,” comments Rose
IGF, a commercial finance provider for SMEs, has completed GBP5 million in asset based financing to Scottish SMEs since its launch in July.
The strong appetite of businesses in this region has led the company to allocate an additional GBP5 million fund specifically intended to support management buyout (MBO) activity.
In the four months since opening its Scotland branch, IGF has provided facilities to 10 clients, ranging from a GBP100,000 invoice finance facility to a GBP2 million asset based lending facility, funding assets including stock and property. The businesses that have benefitted from the support of IGF operate across
Private equity-backed materials handling firm FPE Global has acquired mixing technology specialists JW Process Equipment.
Founded in 2016 by engineering entrepreneur James Winkworth, JWP provides mixing technology and processing solutions to customers across a range of process industries.
Based in Surrey, the company has a team of industry experts all of whom will be transferred to FPE Global as part of the deal.
Headquartered in Manchester and employing more than 60 staff, FPE Global focuses on the design, manufacture and servicing of materials handling solutions into numerous industry sectors around the world. The company was backed by private
EOS Investment Management has launched and raised EUR55 million for EOS Private Equity, its new Luxembourg fund that will invest in growing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) based in Europe, with a focus on Italy.
The fund continues to target a final close of EUR150 million from qualified investors and has just completed its first acquisition Poplast.
EOS Private Equity has acquired 86.5 per cent of Poplast, an Italian manufacturing company based in Castel San Giovanni (Piacenza), in Northern Italy, which specialises in the creation of flexible packaging, focussed on the food, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.
The current
Livingstone has advised the shareholders of ENRA Group, including Livingbridge, on its sale to Exponent Private Equity.
ENRA Group is a provider of mortgage finance.
This is the fourth transaction the Livingstone team has advised ENRA on, previously introducing exiting chairman David Campbell on his investment in 2013, raising growth capital from Livingbridge in 2014 and its subsequent acquisition of West One Loans, also in 2014.
ENRA lends and brokers short-term bridge mortgages as well as distributing specialist second charge and buy-to-let products. The business has enjoyed strong growth on the back of its bespoke manual underwriting process
Despite the uncertainty created by the UK’s Brexit vote, the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is showing the strongest growth globally in early-stage merger and acquisition (M&A) activity at 13 per cent compared to the same period last year.
This is according to the latest Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor report released by Intralinks Holdings.
It also predicts that the global number of announced deals in FY 2016 will be around 3 per cent higher than FY 2015. This would make 2016 the new peak for the number of global deal announcements, surpassing the previous peak year of
AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets has completed, on behalf of AXA Germany and AXA France, and in joint venture with Crédit Agricole Assurances, the acquisition of a 42 per cent stake in Atlandes, the concession-holder of the A63 motorway in South-West France.
The vendor, InfraRed Capital Partners, an investment manager in Infrastructure and Real Estate, acting on behalf of InfraRed Infrastructure Fund III, has disposed of the entirety of the fund’s stake.
The remaining 58 per cent of Atlandes is held by a consortium of industrial partners and financial investors.
The A63 is a 104 kilometre motorway
Private equity fund managers and institutional investors in Europe have joined forces to develop portfolio company-focused due diligence guidance for responsible investment, in a new initiative launched by trade association Invest Europe.
As environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations become increasingly important to global institutional investors, Invest Europe – the trade association for European private equity, venture capital and their investors – has published an ESG Due Diligence Questionnaire for Private Equity Investors and their Portfolio Companies.
Laying out all the essential questions, it gives fund managers a framework for assessing ESG factors at the companies they own or
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